When did Melania Trump receive permanent residency (green card) and citizenship?
Executive summary
Melania Trump received lawful permanent residency (a “green card”) through an employment-based EB‑1 category in roughly 2001 and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2006 (sources repeatedly place the green card in 2001 and citizenship in 2006) [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporting identifies the green card as an EB‑1 “extraordinary ability” or “Einstein” visa and notes she met the five‑year residency requirement before naturalization [5] [1] [2].
1. Green card in 2001: the EB‑1 “Einstein” route
Multiple news accounts and legal summaries say Melania Trump was approved for permanent residency in the EB‑1 category in 2001 — the EB‑1 class reserved for people of “extraordinary ability” or sustained acclaim — and state that only a handful of Slovenians received EB‑1 green cards that year [1] [5] [6]. Commentators and Melania’s lawyer have described the pathway as employment‑based rather than marriage‑based: she “sponsored herself” under EB‑1, according to legal commentary summarized in news reports [2].
2. Naturalization in 2006 after meeting the five‑year rule
Legal commentary and news outlets report that after receiving her EB‑1 green card in 2001, Melania met the five‑year residency requirement and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006 [2] [3] [4]. That timeline — green card 2001 to citizenship 2006 — is the consistent chronology presented across the sources [1] [7].
3. Why the EB‑1 fact matters to the public record
The characterization of Melania’s green card as EB‑1 (“extraordinary ability” or “Einstein” visa) has been central to reporting and controversy because EB‑1 is narrower and harder to obtain than family‑ or marriage‑based routes, and because the category conveys a self‑sponsored employment basis for permanent residency [5] [1] [2]. News outlets and analysts flag that in 2001 only a very small number of citizens from Slovenia received EB‑1 green cards — a statistical detail used both to underscore rarity and to prompt scrutiny [6].
4. Disputes, scrutiny and legal context
Reporting records that questions have been raised about details of Melania’s early U.S. status and whether model work on tourist visas occurred before H‑1B or other work authorization; immigration lawyers and commentators have noted that disclosures and paperwork matter because USCIS can, in theory, reopen or revoke status if fraud or misrepresentation is proven — but the public record in these sources stops short of a legal finding against her [8] [9]. Her lawyer has defended the record and said she “obtained her Green Card legally” [2].
5. Family sponsorship and downstream effects
Melania’s citizenship is cited in reporting as the likely mechanism that allowed her parents to obtain U.S. green cards and later citizenship; news coverage says her parents lived in the U.S. on green cards and later naturalized, with sources and their attorney linking their status to family‑based sponsorship that became possible after Melania’s naturalization [9] [4]. ABC News and the BBC describe that Melania’s parents later became citizens after living in the U.S. on green cards [9] [4].
6. Competing narratives and what’s not settled in reporting
Sources agree on the 2001 green card and 2006 naturalization timeline but note competing emphasis: some reports stress EB‑1’s legitimacy and her lawyer’s defense [2], while others highlight questions about prior visa use and whether any unauthorized U.S. modeling occurred before formal work authorization [8] [5]. Available sources do not mention any definitive government adjudication revoking her green card or citizenship; they document public debate and legal analysis rather than final legal rulings [8].
7. Why these dates matter politically
The 2001 green card and 2006 citizenship dates are repeatedly cited in coverage because they anchor debates over immigration policy, family sponsorship (“chain migration”), and whether high‑profile immigrants used employment categories as reported [6] [1]. Advocates on both sides of immigration debates have used the facts: defenders point to lawful EB‑1 approval and standard naturalization timing [2], critics use the unusual EB‑1 statistic and earlier visa activity to call for closer scrutiny [5] [8].
Limitations: this synthesis uses only the provided reporting and legal commentary. Sources consistently place Melania Trump’s green card in 2001 (EB‑1) and naturalization in 2006 but do not include primary USCIS records or a final court or agency determination of disputed factual allegations [1] [2] [8].